Matt O'Donnell Wins Event #47 ($551,941)
Matt O'Donnell won Event #47: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em for by far the biggest cash of his career, $551,941. He claimed his first career bracelet for beating the 1,244-player field.
In doing so, he erased the pain of last summer's second-place finish in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship, when he lost a 9-1 chip lead. This time around, O'Donnell prevailed in another long heads-up battle when he beat Israel's Timur Margolin, with the players' respective rails reportedly getting testy during the match.
“There was definitely a lot of despair when I won, I could just hear the silence and it felt great,” O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell had another big lead heads up but almost lost it again. This time, aided by a lucky double with 
against 
all in preflop and two flips that went his way, O'Donnell reversed the momentum and came back to win, doubling his career tournament earnings.
“Hopefully, it's the first of many,” O'Donnell said of his new jewelry. “The bracelet's exciting, but the money's pretty sweet, too.”
For his remaining schedule this summer, he plans to play at least the Main Event and the $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha. If he makes any more final tables, expect to see him clad in a blue-and-pink shirt, emblazoned with a pink llama on the front.
“It was my buddy's shirt,” O'Donnell said with a laugh. “He pulled it out one day a couple of months ago. I was like, 'If I make a final table this year, I'm going to wear it for good luck.' I'll probably never wash it again.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt O'Donnell | Lutz, FL | $551,941 |
| 2 | Timur Margolin | Ramla, Israel | $341,338 |
| 3 | Brandon Wittmeyer | Las Vegas, NV | $215,964 |
| 4 | Andy Black | Dublin, Ireland | $156,759 |
| 5 | Andrew Dean | Feeding Hills, MA | $115,637 |
| 6 | Jeff Gross | Ann Arbor, MI | $86,601 |
| 7 | Rick Alvarado | Ontario, Canada | $65,799 |
| 8 | Andre Akkari | Sao Paulo, Brazil | $50,658 |
| 9 | Raghav Bansal | India | $39,508 |